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The Shadows of The Forest III
“The Shadows of The Forest III” By Julian Totton Patricia had just finished college, and it had been a long time since she heard from her father, Will. She was in another country, studying there for 3 years. She drove to where he lived. A house in a forest, near a grocery store. It was late at night, raining. She got to her destination and walked to the house, not caring that she got drenched. She was happy that she would be able to see her dad after so long. But by then, it was too late. Tears rolled down her cheek, as she saw the truth when she got closer to the structure, the house was burned down. She panicked, completely surprised and didn’t know what happened. “How did this happen?! Who, why?! My father… Could it be? Is he dead?” She panicked. “I’m afraid so, my dear” A voice said. “Who are you?” She said, in surprise. “It’s me, your father, stuck as a ghost around these parts. I’m sorry I can’t be with you right now. But you can still do something. Revenge. In the local bank, there’s a security guard named Matt, he’s the one who did this. He made up a story on how he saved his friends but he really got me killed years ago. Avenge me. Form a bond with him somehow, get him to trust you. And then in the next 2 weeks, there will be a right moment for you to strike” The ghostly voice said. “Yes, father. We’ll see” She said. “Very well” The voice said. Unknown to her, the voice was really the ghost of Xavier Hilley, with a revenge plan for his enemy Matt. Two weeks later marked a month since Matt defeated Xavier, an evil bank robber and killer that had almost succeeded in taking Matt’s life and other innocent people. During that time Matt met and formed a good bond with Patricia, and they had been dating ever since. Matt had recurring nightmares this week. Darkness, it filled the room. Matt couldn't see, his eyes adjusted to the blackness. He turned on the light. Then he saw him. A sinister silhouette of a man. He jumped back and ran away, then he tripped and fell down the stairs, and was held up by the man, and spat out blood, all over his shirt. He had always assumed it was Xavier in those dreams. “Gah!” Matt yelled in fear as he woke up. He stared at his clock. It was 4 in the morning. Another bad dream, he thought. He sighed. It was the fifth time this week. He thought it meant something. Was Xavier back from the dead and coming to take revenge on Matt? Matt went to the bank the next day, and talked to his friends, Frank, Eric, and Peter. "Dude, you look terrible" Frank said. "Bad sleep last night" Matt replied. "Another nightmare?" Eric said. “Yeah” Matt replied. Then Charles came by, someone who was relatively new, who worked at the bank as the janitor for a few weeks. “Hey Matt, what’s wrong?” Charles said in confusion. “I’ve been getting these visions. A shadowy figure, a stairway. A fire, then he kills me. And then I have a vision of Xavier. It’s like he or a relative is coming to kill me. Been having it since my girlfriend Patricia showed up. Matt said. “What a weird coincidence. Just be careful, Matt.” Charles said, and then walked away but turned back. “Well, Matt actually I have something to say. I’ve noticed the past few days a priest has been studying the forest, and perhaps he might visit you soon. Well goodbye” Charles said. Matt continued to have the dreadful dreams. It was starting to make him lose his sanity. He was thinking of returning to the forest. No, I won’t go back there alone, he thought. He kept thinking what he should do. He was really paranoid Xavier would come back and kill him. Meanwhile, Patricia came over to Matt’s house. While she was over there, she saw a newspaper. The one that detailed Matt’s heroism in the forest last month, which surprised her as she looked through it. All that hell he went through, people killed at the bank by a robber, and then dealing with a ghost in the forest, it made her feel bad for him. “Could it be, was all that a lie? Maybe he didn’t do it. So then who the hell was that voice? Was it some guy messing around, no. Then what was it?” Patricia said in confusion. Patricia read the paper further and then it mentioned Xavier. That had to be him, she thought but still wasn’t sure. But she knew something was wrong about this and would talk to Matt later. Just then, Matt heard a knock at the door. He opened it, and there were 3 men standing there. One of them was an elderly man with a bible in his hand. “Who are you?” Matt asked in surprise. “Hello Matt, my name is Ramon, I’m a priest. These guys are Harold and Thomas, paranormal investigators. I’m here to talk about the haunted forest, I’ve heard of your heroic actions there, and I was wondering if you wanted to come along with me to put the haunts to rest one of these days.” He asked. “Wow, this is pretty important. Ok, I’ll go with you. We could go there today, give me your number, Father Ramon” Matt said. The priest nodded and shook Matt’s hand with a smile and gave Matt his card, and left. Patricia came over to him. “Who was that?” Patricia asked. “A priest, Father Ramon. He asked if I wanted to come along to put the forest haunts to rest” Matt told her. “I’ll go with you, Matt” “Thanks” Matt said, and gave her a kiss. Patricia then remembered what the ghost said, “In 2 weeks there will be a right moment to strike”. Did that have something to do with putting the haunts to rest? Could something crazy happen? But how would he know that, all these thoughts just made her more confused. Later, Matt looked up the church in his town. And oddly enough, Ramon wasn’t there. What’s going on? Maybe it was a priest from another church, he thought. But then again, sometimes it takes a while to update stuff like that online. He invited his friends to talk about it. “You’re going back, really? You almost died last time!” Eric said. “Yeah, Xavier was so close but you were able to get him. You may not be lucky if he comes back somehow” Peter said. “Well at least I have four people with me now. You guys helped me out last time and it worked. Well, we almost turned into cooked steak from the fire, but we got out” Matt said, adding a bit of humor to the mood. “I’ll go with you if you want” Frank said. “Thanks Frank. Eric and Peter, you guys want to come too?” He said. “No. Sorry Matt but I don’t want to almost die again. But good luck.” Eric said. “Yeah. Get rid of the haunting, I guess” Peter said. “I called and he said he would pick me up in 2 hours” Matt said. “Yeah well I’m gonna go now, got some stuff to do at home pretty soon. Good luck” Charles said. Later, Matt’s friends left. Matt looked back on his wall. The newspaper of him, when he fought with Xavier and saved the two hostages. He was called a hero along with Frank and the others. Later, the priest came over to pick them up. “Hello Matt, you ready to go?” He said. “Yes, Father Ramon. And my friend Frank is going along too” He replied, and went into the van with Patricia. They went to Frank’s house and picked him up. They drove to the forest. Matt was feeling unease, what if his dreams were true? He stopped thinking that. Being with a priest, having a bible would fend off a ghost. As they drove from Frank’s house to the forest, Matt closed his eyes and then had another vision. There was a book somewhere, similar to the bible Ramon had. It was picked up by Matt and it didn’t look like anything he’d ever seen before. It had words written on the cover not of the English language. As he scrolled through the pages, pictures of pentagrams and other strange words appeared. “Ugh, another stupid dream” Matt thought to himself. They arrived to the forest, and walked to the house. Patricia was sad looking at the house. The group entered the burned haunted house and looked around. “It feels so weird coming back here after everything that happened with Xavier. Especially after all those scary nightmares I’ve been having” Matt said. “Yeah, I know” Frank said. “Don’t worry Matt, you have people here to help do what must be done” Ramon said, reassuring him. They looked through the rooms, and then heard ghostly footsteps around the house. They watched the door, the knob turning. Ramon took out his bible and held it in front of the door. “In the name of the father, the son, and the holy spirit. What do you want?” Ramon said. “I want Matt dead!” Xavier’s soul said. Suddenly, a remaining piece of an old bookshelf fell on the floor in a loud crack. “Well, it seems like he’s quite hostile” Harold said. Matt then walked around the house, and saw a shadow at the end of the hall and then it faded. Matt looked into one of the rooms, the same room in the story of where the fight had taken place. Curiosity dawned on him as he saw several notebooks, addressed from the asylum. The hooded man, Matt thought to himself. He opened the folder and read an early entry. July 15. 2010 “It’s coming after me. I thought I could get away from him, but he has haunted me, and driven me insane for so long. They won’t believe me, but I see him, I’m paranoid that he’ll come to me once again and will make my life a living hell. I’m crazy, they all call me that. It’s all because of that man!” “Who is this person in these notes?! He’s the one who caused the hooded ghost to go crazy. Father Ramon, I just found some notebooks from the hooded ghost.” Matt. “Oh my, this is very interesting. Good find, Matt.” He said. Matt looked around the house, and then found something. A picture, of the homeowner and Patricia. “Patricia? Is he your father?” Matt said in shock. “Yes, his name is Will. Listen, Matt. There’s something I need to tell you. The reason I came to meet you is that 2 weeks ago I went here to see him, after I finished college. I had no idea that he was dead and a ghost told me it was him, and that you killed him. But after hearing that news story about your heroic actions last month, I just knew something was fishy about it” She said. “NO! You were supposed to kill him! That was part of my plan you moron!” Xavier’s soul hissed. “Xavier? So it was you!” Matt said. “No, I’m Patricia’s dad, I…” Xavier tried to lie. “You aren’t fooling anyone!” Patricia said. Then they heard another paranormal thing, the sound of a window shatter and a door opening. Then what they heard next was the homeowner and hooded man’s confrontation years ago on that night, echoing through the spooky haunted house, as if a flashback occurred. The sound of a door breaking down was heard. “What are you doing in here? What do you want from me, who are you?” A voice of the homeowner, Will. “I am Zep, and I’ve come here for destruction around these parts. All those fools at the asylum never believed what I saw, just like they won’t believe a peaceful man and his home being destroyed in one night!” A chilling threatening voice of the hooded man yelled. “No, stop! I won’t let you harm others you see in your path!” Will said. “Too late, and I’ve already taken several lives. On this night I took a man and his jacket. Now, die!” Zep said. Then a struggle was heard, things shaking, and banging in the place. Then the sound of a fire. “Well that pretty much confirms it!” Patricia said. “Yes, your father died years ago before Matt showed up. I’m sorry. Wait, what’s this?” Ramon said, inspecting a book on the ground. The same one from Matt’s vision. “There’s strange words written in one of the pages. Hirosho demon spirita possesli” He said. Suddenly Frank started screaming. He was in pain and struggled. His eyes closed and then he stopped. “Ha Ha Ha! Finally I can have my revenge against you Matt, say goodbye to your life and girl!” Xavier said, in Frank’s possessed body. Xavier picked up a wooden stick and hit him with it. Matt fell on the floor, and was punched by Xavier, and then he threw him at the end of the hallway. “Matt!” Patricia yelled. She fought with the evil man. The man punched her, and shoved her on the ground. “Hey, don’t you have any morals? Don’t hit a girl!” Matt yelled, and punched Xavier. “Don’t you have morals, stop hurting the body of your friend” He snarled and swung the wooden stick at Matt again. Matt ran out of the house, with Xavier on his tail. Patricia grabbed the bible Ramon was holding when he was following them. “Hey wait, it’s too dangerous” Ramon yelled. “I have to save Matt” She said while running. “Come on, guys! Pick up the pace!” Ramon yelled at the two. Matt was grabbed by Xavier, and thrown against a tree, and pounded Matt on the branches. “You don’t know how long I’ve wanted to do that” He said. Matt pushed the insane man away and started running. He saw a warehouse in the woods. He ran to it out of instinct. Matt opened the door and went in, Xavier following. He ran up the stairs and then realized it was the same stairway from his nightmares. Xavier ran up to him and attacked with the big stick, but Matt was able to knock it out of his hands and it fell down the stairway. Patricia just got into the building and saw Matt being beaten up. She held the bible, ready to try to get rid of the ghost, but then she saw a shadow appear in the stairway behind her. She got pushed to the side by Ramon. “Get off these stairs and leave!” Ramon snarled at her. “Hey, are you crazy?!” She said, while getting out of his grip and began to walk towards Matt. “I forbid you to save that pathetic security guard!” He yelled, picking up the stick and attempted to hit her with it. “Stop it, you psycho! You’re supposed to be a man of God!” She yelled. Matt looked at the fight in shock. Why was Ramon doing this?! Ramon continued to strike blows towards her face, while Patricia dodged. “Stop it!” She yelled. “I will not let you un-do my revenge!” Ramon yelled, and tried to maintain the weapon in his grip as they both fought. While fighting, Ramon’s hair started to slightly come off in a weird direction, revealing dark hair underneath. Realizing this, Ramon tore off his wig and beard. Matt gasped and then was punched. Ramon revealed himself to be Charles, the janitor. “What the?! Charles, why?” Patricia asked in total confusion. “Yes, Charles Hilley! Xavier’s brother! And I did not use a spellbook for his resurrection for this execution on Matthew to have his damsel in distress ruin everything for me!” He yelled. “Now, time to die!” He and Xavier said to their enemies. Patricia then kicked Charles in the face, and sent him to the bottom of the stairs. Charles got up and pulled out his gun and shot at the girl, missing each shot as she ran up quickly. Patricia threw the bible at Matt. “Evil spirit, go back to where you came!” He said, and hit Xavier with it. “No!” He yelled and then came out of Frank’s body. Frank fell down on the floor. Matt and Patricia quickly grabbed him but then were shot at by Charles. They both fell on the floor. The evil man then torched the stairs in gasoline. “Harold, Thomas. You’ve served me well, but I’ll take it from here” He said, and they both left. Charles walked to the top of the stairs. “Isn’t that a surprise, Matt? Of who I am? Well I hope you liked the reunion with my brother, because that’s the last thing you’ll ever get!” Charles yelled and lit a match. “Time for a hot finale!” He said, and chuckled. Matt then got up and threw the bible at his face, and knocked Charles out cold down the stairs as he fell. In the process, the man dropped the match, which set the place on fire. “Come on, we have to get out of here quick!” Matt said, helping the girl up. “I’m sorry ” Patricia said, kissing Matt. “Its alright, Patricia. I love you too, now let’s get Frank out of here” Matt said. They carried Frank down the burning stairs quickly and Matt fell down. Frank then gained his consciousness back. “Oh my God, Matt! Are you alright?” Frank said. “Yes, That priest and his gang are evil, get out now! Just run and call 911!” Matt told them both Frank ran outside, but was soon greeted by Harold and Thomas. “Run!” Frank told Patricia, and she followed his instruction, but then her foot got shot at and she fell. The 2 fought with Frank, but soon he was beat and they were tied up next to a pile of wooden sticks like a campfire. Matt walked towards the door. But, because of the fire, part of the wall fell in his way, blocking his path. "No! No! No!” Matt shouted in anger. Matt then turned around to look for another exit, but then got punched in the jaw and fell on the floor. Dazed, he looked up to see his enemy. “Leaving so soon?” “Charles! “Where were we?” Charles laughed, and then picked up a piece of wood. Charles raced at Matt and slashed at his cheek. Matt jumped back as Charles ran towards him. Charles pushed Matt to a wall, making him bump his head over and over. Matt then ran downstairs. “Get back here!” He snarled. Matt stepped back and punched Charles. Matt continued running down to get away from his enemy. But then he was grabbed by Charles and thrown up the stairs. “Where do you think you’re going?” Charles yelled, and kicked and punched at Matt. Matt got up to fight back, before his stomach and ribs were assaulted. Charles grabbed him by his legs and lifted him up. “Don’t be rude. Just a “friend” taking you on a little trip” Charles laughed. Charles threw him into a room, and pushed him up against a broken window, and gave Matt a perfect view of his poor friends’ fate. The 2 goons had lit the fire and prepared to kill them. “Frank! Patricia!” Matt said in sadness and anger. “Oh look at that, your friend and girlfriend. Let’s watch them become ashes, shall we?” “No!” “You’re all gonna die, Ha! I have succeeded!” Charles said, and grinned. Matt then looked to his right as 2 long wooded shards fell from the ceiling. “No, just me!” Matt said, before picking up the shards and getting free of Charles’ grip and then he jumped off the window. As Matt fell, he aimed the shards at the gang. “If I shall die before I wake, I pray the Lord, my soul to take” Matt said, and threw the shards on them, knocking them out cold and saving his friends. Matt closed his eyes, accepting his fate. But as he had almost reached the ground, a presence stopped his fall. Someone had caught him! Matt looked up at the shadowy figure. “Thank you! But, who are you?” Matt said, surprised. Then Matt got a closer look at his face. That burned, charred face. He thought at first it was the ghost of the hooded man. He realized it wasn’t after noticing his shirt and smaller height. He recognized him from 3 years ago, he was the homeowner. The one the hooded man killed in the forest house fire years back. Matt was wrong about his dreams this whole time. He assumed Xavier would come back and kill him. Instead the homeowner, Patricia’s father would come back to save him. The ghost set him on soft grass. “He survived?! No matter, one last try. And I shall smite them and send them to their pathetic afterlives!” Charles said arrogantly, and prepared to shoot him. Then he noticed broken glass from the window start to crack. The shards fell on Charles, and he jumped back and fell out of the window. He grabbed on the ledge, and hanged on. He could see his reflection on the glass. Then it changed, from his face to a sinister, red evil satanic face that grinned at him with black menacing eyes and horns on the creature’s head. Charles’ eyes widened, full of fear. “Gah!” Charles screamed, before he lost his grip and fell to his doom, as if literally falling into Hell. The cops had shown up and a firetruck put out the fire. “So long, Janitor. Hope you like cleaning up toilets in Hell” Matt laughed, before turning to the homeowner ghost, Will. “Why did you save me? In fact since you’re a good guy, why were you trapped here this whole time” Matt asked the ghost of the homeowner. “Think of it as my way of saying thanks, for stopping another madman from killing innocent people the last time you were here 2 months ago. The reason I stayed here is because I wanted to help out the people pursued by my killer. So that they wouldn’t end up with the same fate as me. I even helped you out a year ago. While the hooded man was after you and you bumped into a tree. I dragged you closer to the grocery store while you were knocked out. But if you really want to put me back to rest, go to the burned house and dig underneath. You can find my bones as well as the hooded man and Xavier’s. Bury them and this forest can be put to rest. And Patricia, I’m so happy to see you, I love you. Daddy will always be in your heart, my dear. I’m proud of you, and your studies.Your mom would be also. My little kid, all grown up. Its like it was yesterday when I started raising you. I always wondered if I could see you here, or up there. But goodbye, Patricia and Matt.” Will said before he faded away. “I love you too, Dad.” Patricia said, and wiped off the tears in her eyes. After that, Matt, and his friends were in the hospital. “I can’t believe that all happened to you, you got attacked again” Eric said, while visiting Matt at the hospital. “Yeah, you got the crap beaten out of you” Peter said. “It’s crazy. But at least the forest is better now.” He said. “So how strong was I exactly?” Frank joked, causing all of them to laugh. After a few weeks Matt got out of the hospital. Matt did exactly what he was told. He buried the bones properly and prayed for the homeowner. Charles’ henchmen Harold and Thomas were arrested and thrown in prison after the fight. The forest was no longer haunted, it was at peace. The End